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Lesson Four: Style and Tone
 Introduction
Over
the years, our editors have seen some amazing stories become
dreadfully boring and some ridiculously dry topics transform
into an exciting read. The culprit (or hero): writing style.
Witness the advice of some admissions officers:
Use a conversational
style and easy-to-understand language to project a genuine,
relaxed image.
Make sure that
your essay is readable. Don’t make us work. Give your
essay momentum-make sure that the parts work together
and move to a point, carrying the reader along.
Don’t bore
us. More often it is the monotonous style, and not the
subject matter, that makes these essays dull.
A large majority
of the corrections made by our editors fall into one of five
categories: sentence
variety, word
choice, verb
tense, transitions
and essay clichés.
If you weren’t paying attention in English class, here’s a
refresher…
Select One:
From ESSAYS THAT WILL GET YOU INTO COLLEGE, by Amy Burnham,
Daniel Kaufman, and Chris Dowhan.
Copyright 1998 by Dan Kaufman. Reprinted by arrangement
with Barron's Educational Series, Inc.
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